Man pleads guilty to killing 19-year-old Des Moines woman

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DES MOINES, Wash. -- A 30-year-old man has pleaded guilty to murder and assault for the November 2011 shooting that took the life of a 19-year-old woman and wounded another man in Des Moines.

Prosecutors will recommend Johnny Rourn be sentenced to just over 28 years in prison -- the upper end of the sentencing range.

Jayme Thomas was killed and another man was wounded after an argument escalated into a shooting. Witnesses told investigators a verbal argument broke out between two separate groups in the 800 block of Redondo Way S. around 2:40 a.m. The argument escalated until two men started passing around a gun and eventually opened fire into the victims' car.

Thomas, who was in the backseat of the car, and a 24-year-old man who was standing outside the car were taken to Harborview Medical Center where Thomas was later pronounced dead. The man eventually recovered.

Thomas' family says the victim had nothing to do with the fight.

"Jayme was in the back of the car waiting - and got the worst of it and got hit and got killed," Jayme's sister, Carley Espiritu, said in an earlier interview.